head to head

Bad North cover artvsPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity cover art

Bad NorthvsPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

Bad North leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos); Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).

EXECUTION2 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE5 /10OPTIMIZATION7 /10
Bad NorthPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity

Axis by axis

Execution2 vs 1

Bad North leans harder on execution: Real-time orders need only light micro.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance5 vs 5

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization7 vs 6

Bad North leans harder on optimization: Unit positioning and upgrade choices solvable.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Bad North

full breakdown

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity